Sept 6, 2022 0:56:02 GMT Baker said:

Aww yeah Neo Zeed . I was waiting for you to get to Methos. Business just picked up. Best character in the show imo.

Did you get to the Rogue Watchers storyline yet? That's my second most fondly remembered storyline behind only The Horsemen.

Was just thinking how crazy it was that a low budget syndicated program got the rights to Queen. QUEEN! One of the biggest bands in the universe! Their music adds so much to the show.

Was also just about to go back and edit my movie post. Instead I'll drop one final thought here. Somehow the Quickenings in the relatively low budget series manage to be more impressive than those in the big(ger) budget movie. Did the technology improve that much in 6 years?

Just imagine all these streaming channels that have it taking that out for licensing issues. It would be like watching ECW on the Network, I just can't fathom. 

If it's 5000 vs. 400.

He's closer to us than him.

Sept 6, 2022 1:09:02 GMT Baker said:

Sept 6, 2022 1:03:38 GMT Neo Zeed said:

The Rogue Watchers seemed like a storyline that was going early in season 3 or maybe season 2? The guy that killed Darius in the season 1 finale was a rogue watcher right? That was him that came back with Xavier in the 2 parter Unholy Alliance. 

Probably. He was related to Joe in some way iirc. I hated that guy! lol

Come to think of it I wouldn't be at all surprised if Methos does tell what happened to Atlantis in the series. I'm sure he was there. He's been everywhere and done everything. Literally! Duncan is a mere babe compared to Methos. 

Thats bad ass I'm stoked to get into season 4 next week. 

Sept 6, 2022 0:57:49 GMT Neo Zeed said:

I'm not the biggest historical buff but 5,000 years ago thats like bible times right? This shit is getting deep for real. and super sacreligious haha

Yep. And remember this. It will come into play later.

Speaking of sacreligious, I could have sworn there was one rogue immortal who killed on Holy Ground (the biggest no no in Highlander....think 'crossing the streams' in Ghostbusters, only worse) but I can't find any info on this. Mandela Effect?

Nobi just keeps chugging along. Already deep into Season 3. Yet here I am way behind. Time to rectify that. Time to start on Season 1...

Just imagine your memory would be pretty fucked up after 200 years and just how jaded you would get after losing so many people to death by the 300-500 year mark I'd imagine you would really start to lose it. By 1,000 years you would be so fucking jaded with the idea of life and everything in it and I'd imagine you would look down on mortal people after the second thousand you would be pretty disgusted with humanity in general. At around 3,000 years I imagine your consciousness would reach another level of existence seemingly with all of that knowledge and experience piled up, to me it seems like to live 5,000 years would be like to torture your energy trapping it in this reality for so long that it becomes like a prison. I feel like to be immortal would be like being cursed. 

Dude you're selling immortality as hell. Because there's no day off. And yet how do you still want it?

Now I'm thinking of the animal kingdom. Once our brains evolved to a certain level the only way to get back to nature instincts is being immportal.

Like imagine being 1000 years old, taking a piss and some immortal buck is trying his luck.

Like really kid? Ain't nobody got time for this.

Neo Zeed parts of your post fit Methos to a tee. He IS jaded and cynical. He DID once look down upon mere mortals. Oh, did he ever! But you're wrong about  just wanting out, at least where Methos is concerned. The only thing Methos REALLY cares about is survival. And he will do anything it takes to ensure said survival....literally anything. Even when he's firmly on the side of Good it doesn't pay to trust him completely. He's complicated. And that's what makes him so great. Never forget he was born before the Age of Chivalry. Methos has done some very, very bad things...

@ness the downside of immortality is a major theme in the show. *cue up Who Wants To Live Forever accompanied by patented Duncan sad face* Man, Highlander could be SO GOOD when it was firing on all cylinders.

Finally got around to watching the pilot. Liked it more than Nobi. Liked it more than the movie as well. It really hit the sweet spot for me in a way the movie failed to do. If I wasn't all in before I certainly am now. Going to make my way through the series, albeit at a much slower pace than Nobi. And I won't be posting in depth reviews for every single episode from here on out.

They kicked things off with a bang. First Duncan catches a thief (Richie) trying to rob his antique shop(!?) and threatens to behead him. Then a sword-wielding giant in a Hannibal Lecter mask crashes through another window of Duncan's poor shop. They duel. Then our old friend Connor crashes the sword fighting party. It's breaking loose in Tulsa! Shakespeare would have approved of this action packed 8 minute beginning.

Including Connor to bridge the gap from movie to show and pass the torch to Duncan was a stroke of genius. Connor & Duncan had good chemistry. Would have been cool for the Con Man to come from time to time as a part timer in the style of Methos. I thought for sure he would lose his head here to get Quince over as a monster heel and also because I don't remember him ever appearing in the series again. And I'm a little disappointed that didn't happen. Not because I hate Connor, but because he never appeared again (as best I can remember) so I why not have him do the honors on his way out?

Tessa has much more personality than ol' Whatshername from the movie. Richie is a bit of a pill, but I know he'll improve. You can already see it in the way he's awestruck by Duncan & Connor. At this point in the show's run I assume he's here to provide comic relief (some of his reactions got a genuine chuckle out of me) along with the Everyman perspective I associate more with Joe from this show.

The villain wasn’t great. Pretty generic as far as Highlander baddies go. Nobi wasn't wrong when he called him a Walmart brand Kurrgan. Though he does earn some points for the badass Lecter mask (which he should have worn all the time) and that dirty trick he pulled on Connor during their fight towards the end.

Aside from that it was basically a Highlander greatest hits reel. You got a sad flashback, discussions on the downside of immortality, cool sword fights, both Queen songs, and Duncan being The Man. Oh, they also did a good job of establishing the show's mythology for any noobs like me who came along without seeing the movie first.

Verdict- 8.5/10. Might seem high, but as I mentioned earlier this episode really hit that Highlander sweet spot for me. It was no Horsemen Part 1 though.

*8.5/10 suddenly doesn't seem so crazy after all. Just looked to see how other people rated it and the first three hits had it as the #14, #8, and #9 episodes of the series' run. It's safe to say they hit the ground running.

Sept 2, 2022 0:52:59 GMT Neo Zeed said:

I remember him as the Cyclops in Hercules TV show. 

Next thread?

I was obsessed with Hercules too! Well, at first anyway. The tv movies were my jam. Distinctly remember faking sick to get out of a soccer game just so I could stay home to watch the new Hercules movie lol. Was going to tell that story in the Played Any Sports thread last week but lost interest before getting that far.

The way I remember it the movies and possibly the early days of the series had a darker and more serious tone. Then the show took a turn for the worse by going in a more lighthearted, comedic direction. Lost interest in the series as it progressed, but still stuck with it longer than I probably should have. It just became more of a sometimes show rather than must see tv. Let’s just say I was no longer feigning illness to watch my Hercules. Still, it was literally the most popular show in the world at one point. That has to count for something.

The movies and possibly early days of the series ruled though. I'd definitely be up for a rewatch once I've satisfyingly scratched this Highlander itch. Oh, and Giant Gonzalez was in one of the movies!

Why isn't c posting more in this thread? Or at all? Highlander definitely feels like a c IP.

Were there any female immortals? Even if just a token one or two in the whole franchise?

Sept 7, 2022 19:43:24 GMT @ness said:

Were there any female immortals? Even if just a token one or two in the whole franchise?

There are a few. Joan Jett played a devious female immortal in the episode I just watched. Most famous is the short-haired thief who had an on and off relationship with Duncan over the centuries. Forget her name but she was a part timer like Methos who got the big push to star in the failed spinoff series.

Already watched four episodes today. Might squeeze in one or two more before posting quickie reviews tonight. So much for taking it slow. 

Yes I need deep analysis for every episode you watch.

Sept 7, 2022 20:12:50 GMT Neo Zeed said:

Yes I need deep analysis for every episode you watch.

lol not sure if being sarcastic or not but I plan on doing shorter reviews from now on. The idea is to save the longer more in depth writeups for the cream of the crop (Horsemen!) and maybe any cream of the crap episodes if Highlander does have any straight duds. Love the new avatar btw. Think it's time for a Highlander avi myself.

Found my old Top 50 TV Shows Countdown list. Or should I say lists. Forgot I never actually submitted one. Whoops. I had Highlander bouncing around the 30s. Not too shabby.

100% serious American Highlander Theatre this bitch up

Sept 7, 2022 4:40:25 GMT Baker said:

Sept 2, 2022 0:52:59 GMT Neo Zeed said:

I remember him as the Cyclops in Hercules TV show. 

Next thread?

I was obsessed with Hercules too! Well, at first anyway. The tv movies were my jam. Distinctly remember faking sick to get out of a soccer game just so I could stay home to watch the new Hercules movie lol. Was going to tell that story in the Played Any Sports thread last week but lost interest before getting that far.

The way I remember it the movies and possibly the early days of the series had a darker and more serious tone. Then the show took a turn for the worse by going in a more lighthearted, comedic direction. Lost interest in the series as it progressed, but still stuck with it longer than I probably should have. It just became more of a sometimes show rather than must see tv. Let’s just say I was no longer feigning illness to watch my Hercules. Still, it was literally the most popular show in the world at one point. That has to count for something.

The movies and possibly early days of the series ruled though. I'd definitely be up for a rewatch once I've satisfyingly scratched this Highlander itch. Oh, and Giant Gonzalez was in one of the movies!

Highlander, Hercules, Walker Texas Ranger, Renegade, what a golden age for cheeseball action tv shows that felt like straight to VHS movies. I do love that first season of Hercules I remember the Giant Gonzalez movie I'd love to find those. I remember thinking at some point Hercules became unwatchable Xena was fucking hot af though

Funny story time, I recently discovered that the recurring heel Xavier is played by the lead singer of the band Fine Young Cannibals(She drives me crazy?). I had an uncle PJ that was a cross between 1995 ECW Stevie Richards and 1996 ECW Brian Pillman, he dressed talked and looked like Stevie Richards but he was legit loose cannon of the family, and also had a very similar leg injury that Pillman had due to a motocross accident that crushed his ankle(it should have been amputated but doctors tried to save it and it fucked with him the rest of his life) he stabbed my uncle jack in his ass cheek one night when they were fighting, it felt like months that he had a huge bandage on his ass it was a crazy childhood haha.

Him and my other uncle Randy the one who always told me this story went to go see AC/DC somewhere in Houston probably late 80's Razors Edge tour, Fine Young Cannibals was the opening act and my uncle PJ bombed their set screaming so loud how bad they sucked, lambasting them with homophobic slurs among other insults in between songs, then he started throwing shit at the singer he hit the dude with a battery where it came from I don't know but it happened, the story I was always told was that the band ended up cutting their set short because of uncle PJ and security dragged him out of there like 6 guys. He was fucking nuts.

Since Nobi asked for it...

Episode 2- This one is all about the families Duncan & Richie lost or never had. Main story is Richie's search for his father. His mother died young and his father disappeared. In flashbacks we see Duncan cast out of his Clan after his first resurrection in a rehash of the Connor storyline from the movie. We'd later discover both Duncan & Richie were adopted. There's actually some epic foreshadowing going on here. The Changeling theory Nobi mentioned earlier is brought up when Duncan's adopted father casts him out. Richie thinks he's found his dad but the guy turns out to be a conman working Richie and the gang because he's desperate to save his fingers. He really isn't such a bad dude. Just a loveable loser type trying to survive. The mortal villain is a real piece of work. He's a preppy thumb breaker type who threatens to cut Richie's fake father's fingers off one by one and feed them to him. Eat your heart out, Kurgan. Fake Dad turns out to be a good guy in the end and it's satisfying to see Duncan give ol' bully boy thumb breaker the business. Wish he would have beat him up a little more tbh haha. Also liked how this one revolved around mortal stories rather than your typical Immortal of the Week deal. This was a good episode.

My only issues were Richie settling into his role as Duncan & Tessa's "son" a little too easily and the bad montage of Richie walking for two minutes accompanied by music that isn't Queen. Get outta here with that nonsense.

Episode 3- Richie's friend spazzes out during a robbery and dies. It looks like a drug overdose but Richie swears his friend never did drugs. A mystery ensues. Duncan has a flashback after seeing the dead body. He was friends with this other immortal who was obsessed with creating a drug to help humanity achieve their true potential. Duncan didn't think this was such a good idea. I mean his friend was obsessed with creating this wonder drug. He spent 300 years or more working on it. At first he meant well. Then he was "somewhere in the middle" by Duncan's own admission. Now he's out of The Game living on Holy Ground but Duncan still isn't so sure about him. Turns out one of his mortal helpers went rogue and is now using the drug for his own evil purposes. Pretty sure the actor playing the cocky young badasshole also played a similar role in an episode of The Commish (another 90s fave of mine). Anyway, it's up to Mac and Richie to get this drug off the streets once and for all. Duncan eventually catches the rogue helper dude only to have his immortal drug making friend go full heel. He was playing Duncan all along! Now he plans on using the drug to help him win The Game. A fight ensues. Duncan has it won but spares his old friend's life with a threat that he won't do so a second time shall they ever meet again. Duncan couldn't bring himself to take his friend's head and figures it'll take another 100 years to perfect the drug and by then The Gathering will be over and done. 

This episode wasn't so great. Just wasn't feeling this one the way I was with some of the others. We got another pointless two minute montage. This time of Duncan driving to music that isn't Queen. Get outta town with that nonsense. They also introduced a new character named Angie as a potential love interest for Richie but I have yet to see her a second time.

Episode 4- Another immortal friend of Duncan's loses his head just as he and Tessa are going to visit the worried gentleman at his cabin in the middle of nowhere. A homeless Vietnam vet with PTSD is arrested for the crime. Turns out he's innocent while the sheriff who arrested him did the deed. Sherriff is also an immortal. It's up to Duncan and The Gang to free the vet (played by the memorable Vincent Schiavelli who my brother and I always referred to as "The Get Off My Train Guy" from Ghost) and set things right. They encounter a mob of angry townsfolk in the process. There's also a nosy reporter and a smart aleck police officer I forgot to mention earlier who is actually a recurring character suspicious of Duncan and Friends. Duncan eventually gets the Sheriff one on one. Mac has it won. The Sheriff is all "lol My bad. I'll know better than to mess with you from now on." But there would be no next time for the Sherriff. This time Mac does take a head. It ends with Duncan giving Get Off My Train Guy a big wad of money for his Purple Heart and then furtively slipping the medal back in his bag. Duncan MacLeod, what a guy!

Didn't care for this one. The reporter storyline felt forced and neither of the two Immortals of the Week were very interesting characters. Sheriff seemed to have a cult like hold over some of the townspeople, but didn't explain it very well. Oh, the flashback was to the American Civil War. Duncan and Cabin Guy were on opposite sides but Cabin Guy helped Duncan escape....after helping to hang him. Yeah, this episode was a bit of a mess. 

Fun Fact: Caught the name Garry Chalk playing one of the angry townspeople in the end credits. That name rang a bell. He was in Highlander, Conan The Adventure, AND Exosquad! Whatta lineup! Garry Chalk, I salute you for helping to make the 90s so great. 

Episode 5- Joan Jett plays our first female immortal and she's a right tartar. She has poor Richie wrapped around her little finger. This episode is all about her character manipulating everyone around her. She comes back from the dead after committing suicide. Duncan explains the whole immortality thing. Swerve! She's known she was immortal for a long time and the whole innocent noob act is just part of her sinister plan. Of course Duncan (what a guy!) suspects something fishy, but I don't think he grasps the true evil of Jett's character so he trains her anyway. He even gives her a badass Japanese sword! Back in the day she drowned this French noblewoman who was married(?) to an immortal and it's implied did bad things to her baby as well. In present times the dead French woman's immortal husband (who gives off Great Value Duncan vibes) is out to get her. Jett beats him rather easily after a mediocre build. In the end her hubris causes her downfall all because of....a map. But she still almost kills Tessa and is about to kill Richie when Duncan swoops in for the big save. They fight. Duncan has her beat. But once again does not take a head and lets her off with a threat that he won't be so kind if they ever meet again.

I enjoyed this episode while watching it but after that writeup I realize it's actually a bit of a mess. Call it entertaining crap. We got a new Queen song in this one. It's no Princes of the Universe or Who Wants To Live Forever, but at least it's Queen. Shout out to Richie's sweet Leonardo Da Vinci shirt. I also like the jacket he usually wears. 

YES! Lets do this. I actually don't remember Joan Jett or maybe didn't recognize her one of those that I half watched maybe, your write up makes me want to double back to find it. I have made up my mind that I want the season 1 VHS set on my book shelf, it looks the coolest.

You are listing them in different order than what I watched them in, not sure if that is by design or what but I did read on the Highlander message board that they aired the episodes out of order that they were intended, that episode about Duncan's father and the hustler working Richie seems like it would be earlier on in the season, I think Tubi had it as like the 9th episode.

^Me and Baker watching Highlander together right now, have definitely enjoyed your commentary and insight it has inspired me to get deeper into it for sure. Ness you too shit head.

I'm getting into season 4 and the stand alone episodes I'm having a harder time paying attention to. They changed the intro and it's not as cool. One thing I did notice though, all through season 3 they had Tessa in the intro even though she wasn't on the show anymore. I have to say her death was a shocker because I did not remember or know it was coming and it's like a Mandella effect that I thought she was a regular cast member on the show from start to finish. I guess the way they kept her on the opening was part of that. But for sure that has to be one of the most shocking character deaths of any TV show maybe underrated, such a lovely angel and they just show her getting gunned down point blank(and then Duncan holding her limp dead corpse, holy shit man) along with Richie who discovers he's immortal. That was some brilliant shit. The Dust In The Wind montage at the end of the episode, epic of the cinema

Sept 8, 2022 2:26:37 GMT Neo Zeed said:

You are listing them in different order than what I watched them in

Whoops. Meant to mention this. I noticed it when going back to read some of your posts after watching these episodes earlier today. IMDb, Wikipedia, and the Youtube uploader I'm using all have them in "my" order, but I also saw some other source (probably the one you mentioned) having them in a different order. It's like you mentioned earlier about them airing episodes out of order back in the day. Very Saved By The Bell! Who knows for sure what the 'proper' order is supposed to be?

Sept 8, 2022 2:29:21 GMT Neo Zeed said:

^Me and Baker watching Highlander together right now

Highlander is the only thing I care about right now  :lol:  Wrestling posts and 🤯 are gonna have to wait a while. Sorry PI!

Nobi I didn't remember Tessa's death or how Richie became immortal either. Looking forward to getting there. Wonder if it can top what I consider the GOAT Highlander scene....the one I remembered for 25 years.

I'm curious of what you think about Mountain Men. I don't know why I get Kevin Bacon vibes from that dude or where I got the idea he was related to him, like that one dude that is Sylvester Stallone's brother. But it's actually the dude from Beast Master, which is one of my favorite movies.

j

Ole uncle PJ pelted Xavier in the face with a battery, small world. 

Sept 8, 2022 2:43:04 GMT Baker said:

Nobi I didn't remember Tessa's death

I'll go a step further with a shocking confession. I didn't even remember Tessa  :$  

Now before you chuck a battery at me it's possible, nay probable, I didn't see most of Season One. Definitely wasn't watching Highlander as early as 1992. Of course there's always reruns, but you know as well as I that reruns could be all over the place when it came to the order. For example if I ever saw the pilot with Christopher Lambert I likely just assumed it was any ol' episode an early episode since it did introduce Richie, but not necessarily the very first one. And after seeing ol' Tess she did trigger some memories buried deep in the recesses of my brain. So I kinda sorta half remembered her with some assistance.

They do seem like an odd choice to have opening for AC/DC